Women's Basketball 2/21/2023 5:08:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season With Visits to Parkside and Purdue Northwest

The Warriors look to finish the schedule on a high note heading into the GLIAC Tournament.

STORYLINES
Wayne State concluded the home portion of its schedule last weekend, eclipsing Davenport 64-52, but falling 79-60 to sixth-ranked Grand Valley State on Senior Day. The Warriors will finish the regular-season slate with a pair of road contests, first visiting Parkside for a 6:30 p.m. game on Thursday, before playing Purdue Northwest in the finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. (both times listed are Eastern).
SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State possesses a slight 8-7 lead in the all-time season series against Parkside. The Rangers closed the gap in the series by defeating the Warriors 87-79 in the first match-up between the two programs this season on December 11, 2022. While UWP has won five of the nine GLIAC contests since they joined the conference, WSU claimed victory in the most recent game played in Kenosha, an 85-84 decision on January 20, 2022.
The Warriors lead the all-time series 10-1 against Purdue Northwest, including a 79-72 triumph on December 9, 2022, in the most recent meeting. The sole loss for WSU vs. PNW came on February 6, 2021, an 81-64 victory for the Pride in Hammond, Ind. History was made in Hammond on January 10, 2019, when Warriors' head coach Carrie Lohr became the all-time wins leader in women's basketball at Wayne State with a 76-67 victory over Purdue Northwest.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Parkside lost a pair of road games up north last weekend, losing 73-67 at Northern Michigan, before dropping a 68-58 decision at Michigan Tech. The Rangers are 16-10 overall and 11-5 in the GLIAC, but have more road wins (9) than home victories (7) this season.
The Rangers primarily generate their offense through two players, as senior guard Alyssa Nelson (22.1 PPG) and junior guard Paty Gallasova (14.0 PPG) lead the team in a number of categories. Nelson is not only UWP's leading scorer, but the leading scorer in the GLIAC. She also paces the team and is third in the conference in three-point percentage (.429 / 72-of-168), while having a team-best 190 field goals (.488). Gallasova is the team's leading free throw shooter (72-of-91 / .791) and leads the Rangers in assists (116 / 4.5 APG, third in the GLIAC).
Sophomore guard Sheridan Flauger aides in the attack, leading the squad in steals (35 / 1.3 SPG) and shooting .406 from beyond the arc (39-of-96).
Parkside is coached by Jen Conley, in her fifth season at the helm of the Rangers program. She holds a 70-63 (.526) overall record and a 54-41 (.568) ledger in the GLIAC.
Purdue Northwest lost its pair of contests at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan last weekend, falling 80-46 to the Huskies and dropping a 65-61 decision to the Wildcats. The Pride are still alive for a conference tournament spot, despite having lost four straight.
PNW has three scorers averaging in double figures, as junior guard Dash Shaw (18.7 PPG), junior guard Tadrianna Heard (15.3 PPG) and junior forward Mercedes Simmons (10.7 PPG) can all score. Shaw is fourth in the GLIAC in points per game, while Simmons is second in field goal percentage (.535 / 115-of-215). Heard is also top five in the GLIAC, ranking fourth in assists (3.46 APG). She is also the Pride's leading three-point shooter with 52 made triples (.331).
Courtney Locke is the head coach of Purdue Northwest. She is in her fourth season and holds a 25-74 (.253) overall record with a 17-56 (.233) mark in the GLIAC.
LAST WEEKEND RECAP
Wayne State split its pair of games on the final home weekend of the season, victorious vs. Davenport 64-52, but falling to No. 6-Grand Valley State 79-60 on Senior Day. The win vs. DU helped ensure that WSU will be playing in the GLIAC Tournament beginning on March 1st. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Warriors sit with an overall record of 13-11 and a GLIAC mark of 6-10.
Becca Fugate helped the Warriors to a win over the Panthers by scoring a game-high 19 points as part of another double-double, her fourth of the campaign. She finished the contest with 10 rebounds and a game leading four steals. Maxine Moore chipped in with 13 points as the other Warrior in double figures. WSU made 23-of-26 free throw shots, with Shea Tripp (5-of-5) and Hillary Griffin (4-of-4) both perfect from the charity stripe.
On Senior Day, outgoing student-athlete Mashayla Cecil scored 10 points against the Lakers, the second time this season she tallied 10 or more points. Tripp posted a game-high 17 points and was perfect from the free throw line (9-of-9).
NATIONAL ATTENTION
Wayne State ranks 6th nationally in free throw percentage (.789) and 39th in defensive rebounds per game (28.2).
Individually, Shea Tripp ranks 36th in the nation in free throw percentage (.864).
WARRIOR UPDATE
Senior guard Becca Fugate leads a trio of Warriors averaging in double figures at 13.7 PPG. She also leads the team in triples (42), rebounds (155 / 6.5 RPG), and field goal percentage (.472 / 110-of-233).
Sophomore Shea Tripp follows behind Fugate in rebounding (145 / 6.0 RPG), while scoring 12.9 points per contest. She leads WSU in free throw percentage (.864 / 89-of-103), assists (71), steals (52) and blocks (13).
Senior forward Maxine Moore has scored 266 points (11.1 PPG) and is one of three Warriors shooting over 80 percent from the foul line (.833 / 45-of-54) along with Tripp and Fugate (.807/ 67-of-83).
WORKING OVERTIME
With their overtime loss at Davenport on January 14th, the Warriors have lost three OT games in a season for the first time in program history. They previously lost games in the extra session at Saginaw Valley State and vs. Northern Michigan. The third defeat eclipses seven other years where WSU lost two overtime games in a season.
The three losses in the extra period is a change from the past two seasons, where the Warriors went 2-1 and 3-0 in OT. If WSU plays in a fourth overtime contest, it will tie the record set by the teams of 1990-1991 and 1999-2000.
Of historical note, the program once lost two overtime games on the same day back on January 24, 1976, at the Windsor Tournament. WSU was defeated by Central Michigan 69-67 and by Eastern Michigan 77-74.
BEING OFFENSIVE IN 2023
Sophomore forward Shea Tripp had another career weekend on the road at Ferris State (February 9th) and Lake Superior State (February 11th), recording a career-high in points for a second consecutive game with 27 at FSU. She followed that with 15 points at LSSU, and posted 15 or more points in each of the Warriors four road games from February 2nd to February 11th. She is he is averaging 14.7 PPG in 13 games played in 2023.
Senior guard Becca Fugate recorded her third and fourth double-doubles of the season against the Bulldogs and Panthers (February 9th and February 16th), scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against FSU and notching 19 points and 10 rebounds vs. DU. In scoring, she has eclipsed 10 points or more in 13 of the last 17 contests and 18 of WSU's 24 games this season.
Senior forward Maxine Moore had a 38-point weekend on the road at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan (February 2nd and February 4th), scoring 20 points against the Huskies and 18 vs. the Wildcats. Additionally, she nearly recorded her third double-double this season with 13 points and eight rebounds against Davenport on February 16th.
SKIPPING THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Wayne State sophomore Shea Tripp is proving that the second year in college is not a down year. She has greatly improved her rebounds per game average (6.0 compared to 3.8 last year), and has already surpassed her assist total from all of last season. Additionally, she has greatly exceeded her point total from last season with 310 points, surpassing the 143 she scored last season.
Sophomore Ally Shagena has come on as of late, playing over 12 minutes in each of the last five contests. Furthermore, she has recorded more than half of her points for the season in the last seven games (28 of her 49 total points scored), and has tallied 28 of her 44 rebounds for the campaign in that span.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Becca Fugate: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#13 Hillary Griffin: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#42 Maxine Moore: F; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#14 Ally Shagena: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#23 Shea Tripp: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#11 Mashayla Cecil: G; 5' 4"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#4 Becca Fugate
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#13 Hillary Griffin
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F

#42 Maxine Moore
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#14 Ally Shagena
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

#23 Shea Tripp
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#11 Mashayla Cecil
: 5' 4"; Graduate Student
: G